BEIJING - Responding to a call by two key US senators for a vote on possible punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, Beijing warned Washington on Friday that linking a dispute over its currency to the US trade deficit would hurt both sides.

"The current friction in Sino-US trade is normal," Commerce Ministry spokesman Chong Quan said at a news conference, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. Chong said linking China's currency policy and the US trade deficit is "adverse to both sides," Xinhua reported.

US Senators Lindsey Graham and Charles Schumer appealed this week to lawmakers to schedule a vote on a bill that would raise tariffs on Chinese imports. They complained that Beijing has done too little to reform its exchange-rate policies.

Chong's reported comments didn't mention Graham and Schumer's bill but Xinhua said it was in response to their remarks.

Washington and other trading partners say the exchange rate for its currency, the yuan, is too low and gives Chinese exporters an unfair price advantage, hurting foreign competitors.